Someone Who Inspires Me - Research Project

Someone Who Inspires Me

I’ve been playing tennis with this girl named Brittny for about 2 years now and every time I see her play I’m always amazed. I’m amazed to a point that if I hat to make only one bet for the rest of my life and put my house on it, I’d bet that she will become a professional tennis player. I always love to compete with Brittny, even though she beats me most times, because I know I’ll be able to say “I played with that pro tennis player when I was young.” I watch Brittny every time it’s her turn to go when we’re drilling and amazed at how hard she hits the ball and how clean her swing is. She puts so much effort into each ball and plays it like the last. But I think this inner-drive came from somewhere else. I know that Brittny doesn’t come from a very wealthy family at all, needless to say her father is always present and is one of the greatest people I’ve met. Recently, she got a 95% scholarship to Poly Prep for Tennis and went 11-1 in her Freshman Year to cap off an undefeated season for Poly Prep. I always wonder how such an unprivileged girl coming from an unprivileged neighborhood, plays tennis (which is an expensive game), is so good at it, stays so focused, and can fit right in with upper-class private school kids and take over as Captain in her first year their. It’s because she has a drive. She has a drive that no one else has. I’ve gotten to know Brittny very well as we see each other twice a week and talk. Never has her ego gotten in the way despite all of her recent success. She is a year older than me but treats me no different. When me and her play a close match and she edges me out by one point we just have a nice handshake and she goes off and tells me about something other than tennis. But what I don’t do, is tell her that she will become pro even if it is obvious in everyone’s eyes. Because I want her to get their. And by telling her, it’s un-necessary because it may throw her off. I know she’ll get there one day and hopefully I’ll be able to tell her how she’s inspired me and how even though she started out at the bottom, she’ll make it to the top. I know it. 

Ms. Berner Banned Books Letter

Dear Ms. Berner,                                                                   November 10^th, 2013

            It has come to my attention that you have been debating whether or not take some books out of the 6^th grade library, particularly books that have banned in other libraries across America. You should not ban any books in the 6^th grade library or any library. When incoming 6^th graders enter Middle School, they are one step closer to entering the real world and exploring real-world issues. And by sheltering them and taking out some of literatures’ most fantastic novels is just yielding them away from topics that they could learn about. You should not take any books out of the 6^th grade library. As Bill Moyers says “Censorship is the enemy of truth.”

            One reason you shouldn’t remove any books from the 6^th grade library is because some kids who may be going through a particular hard time may not know how to express themselves and seek help. As Sherman Alexie, author of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” writes, in the article “The Best Books are Written in Blood” would have loved to have a book such as his to help him cope with some of the serious problems he felt and it was a way for him to help him deal with his emotions. He then brings up a good point. He says “Does Ms. Gurdon (the author of an article accusing Alexie of writing inappropriate content in his books) honestly believe that a sexually explicit YA novel might somehow traumatize a teen mother? Does she believe that a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow shock a teenager whose life has been damaged by murder and rape?” This shows that people who are living something are not spontaneously going to be scared or traumatized by the book, it’s just another way of expressing their emotions and knowing that they aren’t the ones going through one particularly hard time in their lives.

            Some people may argue that it is necessary to take some heavy content books out of libraries because they may feel it is too strong for a young adult to handle. First of all, they are books, Young Adult Fiction books are Fiction, so for the most part they are not true stories and some may have an influence from someone who did go through a particular event, but they are mostly fictional stories. The question that should be asked is: why should these stories be taken out of a library just because one or two people may feel uncomfortable whereas there may be someone shy who needs this story as a way for themselves to feel better about a particular problem they may face? In Texas, on channel ABC13, there was a student who attempted to ban the book Fahrenheit 451 because she personally felt uncomfortable with it. And selfishly, her father attempted to get it banned throughout the whole school just because she didn’t feel comfortable with it. That’s what is scary about book banning, it’s people who want to  ban books who then get other people to look deeper at vocabulary that could potentially be something hateful and end up censoring or banning some of literatures most historical stories. As Alexie writes “They are simply trying to protect their privileged notions of what literature is and should be. They are trying to protect privileged children. Or the seemingly privileged.” This is just upper-class people or people with some kind of power that want to shelter kids and not expose them to the real world because they are afraid they won’t be able to handle it. But part of entering 6^th grade is about growing up and coming into a more real-life environment and growing as a student and a person, and this comes with learning about heavy real-world issues. As award-winning author Ellen Hopkins writes in an article about book banning  “they bring young adult readers a middle-aged author's broader perspective. They show outcomes to choices, offer understanding.” This quote is a great example of what books can bring to one’s life. These books do not tell the readers to do what the character is doing, but simply understand the different possibilities the character is facing and which is the best choice in order to overcome that problem.. Chris Eakin, from the Fairview Post, writes “One thing about books and other printed material is that you can pick it up, put it down, open it and close it and where ever you leave it, it stays there, it doesn’t follow you around.” Eakin makes a good point here, if you feel uncomfortable reading something, then stop reading it. This goes along with taking books away from the 6^th grade libraries. If someone feels really uncomfortable reading something, they can just put it down and stop reading it, but taking it away from everyone Is wrong.

            In conclusion, you should not ban any books from the 6^th grade library, and if you really feel that it must not be there you can simply tell the teacher so she can warn the kids before they read it. By leaving it in the libraries you give the opportunity to a kid who may face a similar tough problem in their life, to read it and help them with their emotions. As Alexie said “I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.”

Sincerely,

Felix Levine